Benjamin Aron Colonomos (born September 10, 1981) is a New York City-based media personality formerly for NBCUniversal's LXTV and WNBC's New York Live, and for the nationally syndicated Crazy Talk television series. From 2017 to 2019, he co-hosted the nationally syndicated TV talk showPickler & Ben with country artist Kellie Pickler.[2] As of the start of 2020, he is a features reporter for the PIX11 Morning News on WPIX-TV in New York.[3]
Early life and education
Benjamin Aron Colonomos[4] was born on September 10, 1981,[5] in New York to Janis Yudelson Salerno and Mark Colonomos of Jewish heritage.[6][7][8] He grew up in Piermont, New York[9] and graduated from Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts.[5]
Career
Aaron started his journalism career on radio in 1999 at 18 years old working for Radio Disney.[10] After a brief stint hosting a radio show in Tucson, Arizona, he moved to Los Angeles and landed an on-air television hosting job for Daybreak OC, an Orange County-based morning lifestyle/news show serving all of Los Angeles. From there he went to KSWB in San Diego continuing his work as a features reporter until WNBC in New York picked him up. He has worked for NBCUniversal at WNBC as their host of New York Live.[10] There he received three consecutive Emmy Awards for "Best Features Reporter". He was a co-host of the nationally syndicated television program, Crazy Talk as well as being a correspondent for Extra.[11][12] In September 2017, Aaron began co-hosting Pickler & Ben, a syndicated talk show, with country star Kellie Pickler.[13] After that talk show's cancellation in summer 2019, he returned to New York working for WPIX-TV as a morning features reporter at the start of 2020.[3]
Personal life
In August 2013, Aaron became engaged to ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee.[14] The couple wed on June 7, 2014.[15] Their son Adrian Benjamin Colonomos was born in December 2015.[16] in Petoskey, Michigan.[17] On August 14, 2017, Zee announced on Good Morning America that she was pregnant with the couple's second child. On February 9, 2018, she gave birth to a boy, named Miles Macklin.[16] The family lives in Rockland County, New York.